The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has raised alarm over worsening insecurity across the Lake Chad Basin, warning that escalating violence and rising displacement are threatening to reverse years of fragile stability in the region.
Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva on Friday, the UNHCR Deputy Director for the West and Central Africa Bureau, Andrew Wyllie, said the humanitarian situation had deteriorated significantly across the Lake Chad Basin, which spans parts of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.
According to the UNHCR, more than 3.5 million people are currently forcibly displaced across the basin, while 8.2 million require humanitarian assistance.
The agency said security incidents increased by 80 per cent between January 2024 and April 2026.
The agency disclosed that between September 2025 and May 2026, nearly 1,800 security incidents and more than 5,700 fatalities were recorded, including attacks on civilians, killings, kidnappings, explosions, clashes between armed groups and raids on villages.
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The UNHCR identified Borno State in northeastern Nigeria as the epicentre of the crisis, saying repeated attacks by non-state armed groups, military operations and growing insecurity along roads and displacement routes continue to force families from their homes while limiting humanitarian access.
It noted that the effects of the conflict have spread beyond the North-East, with insecurity and displacement increasingly affecting the North-West and parts of the Middle Belt.
The agency said that since January 2026, more than 77,500 people have been displaced across the four countries, including over 16,000 refugees who fled attacks in northeastern Nigeria to Niger’s Diffa region, where humanitarian partners are providing emergency assistance.
The UNHCR warned that violence is increasingly crossing national borders, with attacks in one country triggering displacement in neighbouring states.
It said persistent attacks continue to fuel insecurity in Cameroon’s Far North, while recurrent attacks and military operations in Chad’s Lac Province have displaced about 60,000 people, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in May.
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